The disclosure relates to the field of electronic communications. More particularly, the disclosure relates to systems and methods for efficient delivery of information on demand.
A great amount of information is dynamic in nature and only has relevance for a short time frame. For example, weather information is dynamic and is not inherently predictable based on past data. Additionally, other types of data are not inherently dynamic, but only have relevance for a short time frame. For example, an outcome of an election or sporting event does not change as a function of time, but the relevance of the outcome may decrease with the passage of time.
The need to have up to date information, such as weather information, is critical to many individuals and operations. People in remote locations often have the greatest need for accurate up to date weather information. Such individuals and businesses may be in marine environments or remote environments that are not conducive to conventional information reporting methods. Individuals in remote locations can use wireless communication devices, such as satellite terminals, satellite telephones, or high frequency transceivers to receive desired information. Individuals can use the wireless communication devices, for example, to connect with one or more information providers to obtain the desired information. For example, a substantial amount of weather information can be obtained from publicly accessible sites on the Internet. Thus, a remote user, such as a user on a marine vessel, can use a satellite phone to connect to the Internet and navigate to the relevant web pages to obtain the desired information.
However, the costs associated with the wireless link and the time required to access and download or otherwise obtain the information may be prohibitive. Satellite telephones typically charge a per minute connection fee and have a relatively slow data rate compared to a wired network connection. Moreover, there is no way for a remote user to receive dynamic data such as a news feed without continually checking for updates.
It is desirable for remote users to have the ability to efficiently access and retrieve dynamic information. The remote users may only have a limited data bandwidth relative to a wired interface, such as an Ethernet connection. For example, satellite phones may only be capable of data rates on the order of 2400 baud or 9600 baud.
Embodiments disclosed herein address the above problem and other problems, individually and collectively.